Sentry
//ˈsɛn.tɹi// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A guard, particularly on duty at the entrance to a military base.
"Additional sentries are keeping watch for any signs of an ambush."
- 2 a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event wordnet
- 3 Sentry duty; time spent being a sentry. uncountable
- 4 A form of drag to be towed underwater, which on striking bottom is upset and rises to the surface.
- 5 A watchtower.
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- 6 An animal like a marmot tasked with alerting the pack to danger.
Example
More examples"The sentry demanded the password from everyone."
Etymology
From earlier sentrie, sentery, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of sentinel or sanctuary; or perhaps from Old French senteret (“a path”), diminutive of sentier, from Medieval Latin semitarius (“a path”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.